State aims to attract 5 mln tourists this year — Abdul Karim

SARAWAK is targeting five million tourist arrivals and expecting RM8.98 billion in tourism receipts this year.
In stating this, Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said the state’s total tourist arrivals stood at 1.67 million as of April.
“As of January to April this year, visitor arrival figure was 1.67 million, indicating an increase of 17.26 per cent as compared to the corresponding period in 2016,” he said in his winding-up speech yesterday.
Whereas last year, the state received 4.66 million tourists, spending RM8.37 billion in the state, an increase of 3.19 per cent over the figure recorded in 2015, he added.

At the national-level, he said 26.8 million tourists visited Malaysia last year, an increase of four per cent and generating an estimated RM82.1 billion in tourist receipts.
“Asean markets continue to contribute largely to the arrivals, namely from Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei and Thailand. The global tourism sector continues to show positive growth.
“Global international tourist arrivals grew by 3.9 per cent in 2016, receiving a total of 1.23 billion international tourists worldwide, 48 million more tourists as compared to 2015,” pointed out Abdul Karim.
Quoting the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) World Tourism Barometer, he said the Asia and Pacific region, and Africa region gained an eight per cent increase each last year.
“This was followed by America, a four per cent increase, and Europe a two per cent increase while arrivals to the Middle East decreased by three per cent.
“The UNWTO forecasts a three per cent to four per cent increase in international tourist arrivals for 2017, expecting better results as compared to the previous year,” he added.

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